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Cleanup Delay Endangers Residents, Economy Waukegan, Illinois, a largely minority community of about 90,000 people situated between Chicago and Milwaukee, boasts an enviable waterfront location on the shores of Lake Michigan. But years of industrial contamination have taken an economic toll on the city, and there are now three Superfund sites in the Waukegan area. When part of the cleanup was recently completed, the city began work on an ambitious downtown revitalization plan. But recent Superfund budget cuts threaten both the city's revival and the health of its citizens. Ironically, Outboard Marine Corporation (OMC), a company that produced motors for sports fishing boats, almost destroyed local fishing in the Waukegan Harbor. Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in hydraulic fluids used in the production of motors ran down drains in the floor of the OMC plant to a waterway that drained into the harbor. An estimated 300,000 pounds of PCBs ended up in the harbor, and 700,000 pounds seeped into soil around the site.(1) The extensive site includes portions of the harbor and adjacent lands, and part of the site is next to a public beach.(2) The cleanup of PCBs in the harbor itself has been completed(3) but the surrounding lands contain an abandoned OMC plant and a razed gas manufacturing and coke (a coal-residue fuel source) plant. Before OMC entered bankruptcy in 2000, the company was to be responsible for the upkeep of the PCB containment areas after completion of the harbor cleanup.(4) That responsibility will now shift to the EPA. Most of the work at the OMC factory and the gas and coke manufacturing site (known as the Waukegan coke plant site) has not yet started. Coal tar from gas manufacturing and creosote (a combination of distilled coal tar and petroleum oil) from a former wood treatment operation on the Waukegan coke plant site caused soil and groundwater contamination. As a result, the soil and groundwater are contaminated with polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), phenols, volatile organic hydrocarbons (VOC), ammonia,(5) and arsenic.(6) Other contaminants that occur primarily in groundwater include cyanide and heavy metals.(7) An EPA cleanup proposal notes that the major groundwater contaminants at the Waukegan coke plant site are arsenic, benzene, phenol, thiocyanate, and ammonia, and concentrations exceed safe levels under both state and federal drinking water laws.(8) Concentrations in the soil of semivolatile organic compounds, PAHs, and inorganic compounds could also pose health risks.(9) Further, the proposal states that "there is a risk to human health from eating fish from either the lake or the harbor because they may contain small amounts of arsenic."(10) Terry Ayers, the manager of the Superfund unit of the Illinois EPA, is concerned about funding for the cleanup of the abandoned OMC factory. "Most of the factory site was not a concern of the Superfund until the company went bankrupt," Ayers said. "Now, we think there might be a TCE (trichlorethylene) plume under the factory building."(11) City officials are concerned about funding for the cleanup of the remaining land-based areas, since their revitalization requires a high level of cleanup. PCBs are thought to cause cancer and a variety of health problems, including skin conditions, liver, stomach, thyroid, reproductive and immune system ailments, and developmental problems in children born to mothers with PCB exposure.(12) PCBs do not break down in nature, but they concentrate in fish and wildlife.(13) Fears of contaminated fish caused a dramatic drop in Waukegan's charter boat business.(14) Fishing in Waukegan Harbor was banned from 1981 to 1997.(15) For years, it was not possible to navigate the harbor with fully loaded boats because the necessary dredging would have spread PCB contamination.(16) As a result, industries that depended on shipping suffered, although private industry recently funded a dredging project to deepen the harbor.(17) With progress being made to clean up the harbor, the city of Waukegan, the Waukegan Citizens Advisory Group, the Waukegan Downtown Association, and the Illinois EPA initiated plans to revitalize the local economy.(18) The plans call for transforming downtown Waukegan into a desirable destination for recreation and business, capitalizing on the city's greatest assets-its beaches and its harbor area. Included in the proposed transformation are a theater district, an intermodal transport corridor, waterfront housing, higher education opportunities, and a waterfront hotel and meeting center.(19) City officials envision new opportunities for residents who have borne the brunt of the harm from Waukegan's pollution woes, including the city's sizable minority population. According to the 2000 Census, almost 45 percent of Waukegan's population is of Hispanic origin, and 19 percent is African-American.(20) However, the dearth of Superfund monies is slowing the cleanup at the OMC site and stalling Waukegan's redevelopment. The city is losing important revenue opportunities, and local residents are missing out on recreation and business opportunities as well. Ray Vukovich, Waukegan's director of government services, commented, "It's just not fair to the community to have a chain-link fence around a site that should be bringing in tax revenues or made available for people to enjoy."(21) After making a concerted effort to revive Waukegan, local officials are anxious to continue to improve conditions for city residents. A delay in the cleanup not only slows the pace of economic development; it also increases the risk that pollutants from the site will once again cause harm to the surrounding harbor area and endanger human health. Up to Top HOME | Email Signup | About Us | Contact Us | Terms of Use | © 2008 Sierra Club |
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